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American Morning

Discussion with Peter Brookes

Aired February 26, 2003 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell is back home this morning after meetings in Japan, China and South Korea. Mr. Powell is downplaying North Korea's latest provocative action, Monday's firing of a short range missile into the Sea of Japan. But Powell says North Korea must abandon its nuclear ambitions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We remain ready to help the people of North Korea out of their distress. But it has to begin with an honest dialogue that does not sweep things under the carpet or hide the reality that they had been trying to develop nuclear weapons despite their promises not to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Joining us now from Washington to talk more about the stand-off with North Korea, Peter Brookes, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation and expert on Asian affairs.

Welcome back, Peter.

PETER BROOKES, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: How do you think this stalemate's going to broken?

BROOKES: Well, hopefully that multilateral pressure will get North Korea to understand that the course that they're taking is not going to lead to the results that they would like, that it's probably going to lead to greater privation and actually further international isolation.

Remember, the State Department is pursuing a multilateral approach, and as you mentioned, Secretary Powell has been in China, has been in Japan and South Korea. But on the other side, on February 12, the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency's broad of governors forwarded its concerns to the U.N. Security Council.

And now we all know the U.N. Security Council is very busy right now. But hopefully at some point in the future they will take this up.

ZAHN: But you talk about multilateral pressure perhaps moving things along and yet the Secretary wasn't able to get China, South Korea or Australia on board to even talk about multilateral talks with North Korea. BROOKES: Well, I don't think we should give up. My concern about making this bilateral, we shouldn't just make it bilateral because North Korea says so. Why should North Korea dictate to us the diplomatic framework for dealing with this issue? North Korea's nuclear weapons programs affect Japan, they affect South Korea. It affects the ability of Northeast Asia, which would affect Russia, as well as China. And we just shouldn't give in to North Korea's demands that this be bilateral.

The other major concern I have is, as you know, Paula, they just inaugurated a new president in South Korea. And if we allow North Korea to deal primarily and exclusively with the United States, it will isolate South Korea. And first and foremost, this problem of reunification and peace on the Korean Peninsula is something between the North and the South. And if they're allowed to deal with us, they won't deal with South Korea.

The road to reunification on the Korean Peninsula comes through Seoul, not through Washington. The road to regime survival comes through Washington and that's why North Korea is pursuing that path.

ZAHN: But based on what the "New York Times" is reporting this morning, with a quote from an adviser to the incoming president, it doesn't sound like the South Koreans are optimistic at all. We're going to put up on the screen what he said. I'll just read it.

"If the American policy is simply to wait for North Korea to make a huge mistake, there is no future for the alliance and no future for the American position in East Asia."

BROOKES: Well, I'm not sure...

ZAHN: Are U.S.-South Korean relations that bad?

BROOKES: No. I just returned from Seoul. The Heritage Foundation just had a transition conference out there where we provided some broad ideas to the new, the incoming government. I don't know who said that. I don't know who the aid is who said that and I don't agree with his characterization or her characterization of the alliance. We're celebrating 50 years of the alliance this year. This is very strong.

We still have some issues to deal with, not only the conventional threat from North Korea, but also this latest nuclear weapons threat. And I think that we need each other. U.S. presence in the region is critical to maintaining peace and stability. The absence of a U.S. presence there would create a power vacuum that might lead to a struggle between North and South Korea.

Remember, North Korea has been involved in a number of provocative acts recently. Last week, for the first time in 20 years, they sent an aircraft screaming south over the northern limit line, which is out over the sea. And last, and yesterday they sent, they fired a missile. On the same day of the inauguration they fired it in the direction of Japan. So remember, let's not, North Korea is the problem here. It's not the United States and it's not South Korea and we should all work together because China, Japan and South Korea and Russia have a major stake in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. A war there would be devastating for all of them.

ZAHN: We always appreciate your perspective.

Peter Brookes, thanks for spending a little time with us this morning.

BROOKES: Thank you, Paula.

Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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Aired February 26, 2003 - 08:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Secretary of State Colin Powell is back home this morning after meetings in Japan, China and South Korea. Mr. Powell is downplaying North Korea's latest provocative action, Monday's firing of a short range missile into the Sea of Japan. But Powell says North Korea must abandon its nuclear ambitions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We remain ready to help the people of North Korea out of their distress. But it has to begin with an honest dialogue that does not sweep things under the carpet or hide the reality that they had been trying to develop nuclear weapons despite their promises not to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZAHN: Joining us now from Washington to talk more about the stand-off with North Korea, Peter Brookes, a senior fellow with the Heritage Foundation and expert on Asian affairs.

Welcome back, Peter.

PETER BROOKES, THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION: Good morning, Paula.

ZAHN: How do you think this stalemate's going to broken?

BROOKES: Well, hopefully that multilateral pressure will get North Korea to understand that the course that they're taking is not going to lead to the results that they would like, that it's probably going to lead to greater privation and actually further international isolation.

Remember, the State Department is pursuing a multilateral approach, and as you mentioned, Secretary Powell has been in China, has been in Japan and South Korea. But on the other side, on February 12, the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency's broad of governors forwarded its concerns to the U.N. Security Council.

And now we all know the U.N. Security Council is very busy right now. But hopefully at some point in the future they will take this up.

ZAHN: But you talk about multilateral pressure perhaps moving things along and yet the Secretary wasn't able to get China, South Korea or Australia on board to even talk about multilateral talks with North Korea. BROOKES: Well, I don't think we should give up. My concern about making this bilateral, we shouldn't just make it bilateral because North Korea says so. Why should North Korea dictate to us the diplomatic framework for dealing with this issue? North Korea's nuclear weapons programs affect Japan, they affect South Korea. It affects the ability of Northeast Asia, which would affect Russia, as well as China. And we just shouldn't give in to North Korea's demands that this be bilateral.

The other major concern I have is, as you know, Paula, they just inaugurated a new president in South Korea. And if we allow North Korea to deal primarily and exclusively with the United States, it will isolate South Korea. And first and foremost, this problem of reunification and peace on the Korean Peninsula is something between the North and the South. And if they're allowed to deal with us, they won't deal with South Korea.

The road to reunification on the Korean Peninsula comes through Seoul, not through Washington. The road to regime survival comes through Washington and that's why North Korea is pursuing that path.

ZAHN: But based on what the "New York Times" is reporting this morning, with a quote from an adviser to the incoming president, it doesn't sound like the South Koreans are optimistic at all. We're going to put up on the screen what he said. I'll just read it.

"If the American policy is simply to wait for North Korea to make a huge mistake, there is no future for the alliance and no future for the American position in East Asia."

BROOKES: Well, I'm not sure...

ZAHN: Are U.S.-South Korean relations that bad?

BROOKES: No. I just returned from Seoul. The Heritage Foundation just had a transition conference out there where we provided some broad ideas to the new, the incoming government. I don't know who said that. I don't know who the aid is who said that and I don't agree with his characterization or her characterization of the alliance. We're celebrating 50 years of the alliance this year. This is very strong.

We still have some issues to deal with, not only the conventional threat from North Korea, but also this latest nuclear weapons threat. And I think that we need each other. U.S. presence in the region is critical to maintaining peace and stability. The absence of a U.S. presence there would create a power vacuum that might lead to a struggle between North and South Korea.

Remember, North Korea has been involved in a number of provocative acts recently. Last week, for the first time in 20 years, they sent an aircraft screaming south over the northern limit line, which is out over the sea. And last, and yesterday they sent, they fired a missile. On the same day of the inauguration they fired it in the direction of Japan. So remember, let's not, North Korea is the problem here. It's not the United States and it's not South Korea and we should all work together because China, Japan and South Korea and Russia have a major stake in peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. A war there would be devastating for all of them.

ZAHN: We always appreciate your perspective.

Peter Brookes, thanks for spending a little time with us this morning.

BROOKES: Thank you, Paula.

Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




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